2011 foundation wine course 2: the wines of france

Foundation Wine Course: II30 March 2011

The Wines of FranceCopyright © Brian Jamieson

Revision 1: Winemaking

White Red

Revision 2: What is wine? Water 85% Alcohol

Ethyl alcohol 12% Glycerol 1%

Everything else 1 – 1.5%

Revision 3: Range and diversity

Grape variety Environment; French Terroir

Climate Soil Husbandry – pruning, training, spraying Harvest – timing and weather

Winemaking processes Storing/ageing

Revision 4: Tasting Eyes Nose Mouth

Front Sides Back

Aroma Exercise 1 Grapefruit

2

Pear 10

Liquorice 36

Aroma Exercise 2

Aroma 29 Violet

Aroma 15 Blackcurrant

Aroma 50 Hazelnut

World wine production 1 Italy 4,609,554 2 France 4,198,632 3 Spain 3,591,300 4 United States 2,250,000 5 China 1,500,000 6 Argentina 1,467,764 7 Australia 1,244,780 8 South Africa 1,026,100 9 Germany 1,000,100 10 Chile 824,642

Tonnes (2008)

11 Portugal 562,000

12 Romania 554,182

13 Russia 503,483

14 Greece 400,409

15 Brazil 368,300

16 Hungary 325,000

17 Austria 299,372

18 Bulgaria 230,046

19 Ukraine 210,500

20 New Zealand 205,200

21 Serbia 154,224

22 Moldova 138,522

23 Uruguay 109,001

24 Macedonia 108,100

25 Switzerland 107,447

FranceOverview IWine producing areas

FranceOverview IIAOC quality wines

Burgundy monoculture

Sparkling wineGetting the CO2 in!

1. Natural sparkle (petillance)2. La pompe bicyclette (carbonated)3. Cuvée close or Tank method (2ary

fermentation in tank) - Prosecco4. Méthode Champenoise (2ary fermentation in

bottle)5. Méthode Traditionelle (outside Champagne)

Cava, Cap Classique, Sekt, Limoux, Spumante

Champagne Vineyards on chalk Nth French Climate marginal for

winemaking Makes poor still wine (highly acidic),

but good champagne Blend of three permitted grapes

Chardonnay (Blanc de Blancs); Pinot Noir & Pinot Meunier

Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier often exceed 70%

1. Champagne tasting

Jacquart , Brut Tradition, NV Traditional Champagne blend of

Chardonnay, (30%) Pinot Noir (45%) & Pinot Meunier (25%)

Appearance Nose Mousse – size and length Taste

Visit a Champagne House

Some (useless?) Champagne facts 12,500 separate brands! 19,000 small growers own 88% of

vineyards, but sell only 29% of champagne.

Champagne houses own 12% of vineyards but produce 71% of wine.

250 million bubbles in a bottle Who counted?

Same Chalk as in North & South Downs of SE England

2: Les Cascadelles, Pouilly-Fumé AOC 2007

Sauvignon blanc 100% Compare with New World Sauvignon

blanc Acidity? Fruit? Mineral/Vegetal/Fruit on palate?

Predominant aroma?

The Wines of France

Some necessary, but possibly boring, stuff!

French wine making Greek/Roman Origins: first vineyards near Aix -en-

Provence in the South. Highly regulated industry. A mixed blessing as it:

ensures minimum quality standards, but discourages experimentation, innovation and

development.

At lowest level, grapes treated as just another agricultural commodity, producing basic table wine.

Production Now world’s second largest wine

producer Big fall in home consumption, esp. cheaper

wines 20 % fall in production in last ten years 10% increase in exports during same period

UK and Germany are biggest customers But, UK now imports more Australian wine

than French Historic classifications and reputations

still ensure stratospheric prices for the best wines

National Quality Classification

Appellation d’Origine Contrôllé 470 (59%)

Grape variety Viticulture Harvest and yield Min. alcohol level Vinification Tasting (nominal) Restricting, discourages

innovation

VDQS 33 (1%) Second division Staging post

Vin de Pays 153 ( 31%)

Since 1973 Superior table wines Less regulation

Grape variety Vinification

Fewer rules encourages innovation

Some of the best modern wines

Vin de table (10%) The lowest rung Domestic consumption

Vin de Pays: Regional groupings

Vin de Pays d’Oc Roussillon/Langedoc

Vin de Pays du Jardin de la France Loire

Vin de Pays de Comté Tolosan SW France

Vin de Pays du Comtés Rhodaniens Rhone

Vin de Pays de Méditerranée Provence/Corsica

2008 Reforms Reduce regulation Simplify main categories

In line with EU regulation Make more competitive

internationally Encourage grape variety on label

New categoriesNew

Vignobles de France (Wines of France)

Indication Géographique Protégée (IGP)

Appellation d’Origine Protégée (AOP)

Replacing

Vin de Table

Vin de Pays

Appellation d’Origine Contrôllé (AOC)

3. The Society’s Exhibition Morgon, 2005 AOC Morgon: one of 10 Beaujolais Crus –

quality wines. Gamay grape producing light fruity

wines. Carbonic maceration initiates

fermentation. Aroma? Palate

Beaujolais

10 CrusBeaujolais VillagesBeaujolais Beaujolais Nouveau

Jancis Robinson

‘Grapes and Gas’

Champagne production Protection of the name Moet & Chandon’s diversification in

Spain, USA & Australia

28 minutes

4. Domaine de Valmoissine, Pinot Noir, Louis Latour,Vin de Pays des Coteaux du Verdon 2009

Maison Louis Latour: Producers in Burgundy since 17th Century

In 1989 pioneered the production of the Pinot Noir grape in Provence by buying 30 ha (75 acres) of land in the Verdon. In mountains (500m) 70 km N of St Tropez.

Burgundian vinification in wood Light-fruity wine, that lacks the earthiness of Red

Burgundy. cf New World. Characteristic aroma?

.

6. Domaine Lucien Barrot et Fils, Chateauneuf-du-Pape , AOC, 2007

Small, but famous, appellation in Sth Rhone 13 grape varieties permitted 80% Grenache, 10% Syrah and 10%

Cinsault/Mourvedre. A big wine! Complex, herby nose and palate. Predominant aroma?

Bordeaux wines Reds are blends of:

Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot Cabernet Franc Petit verdot

Whites largely: Sauvignon blanc, with additions of

Semillon and Muscadelle

MedocGravesMargauxSauternes

St EmilionPomerolBourg Blaye

Entre-deux-Mers

Libournais St Emilion

2 Premier Grand Cru Classeé A 11 Premier Grand Cru Classeé B 84 Grand Cru Classeé

Pomerol Ch. Petrus

Merlot dominant (60%+)

Gironde 1855 Classification (Red)

Premiers Crus Ch. Lafite Ch. Margaux Ch. Latour Ch. Haut-Brion Ch. Mouton-Rothschild (1973)

Deuxièmes Crus Ch. Ducru-Beaucaillou Ch. Léoville-Lascase Etc

Troisièmes Crus Ch Lagrange Ch. Palmer etc

Quatrièmes Crus Ch. Talbot Ch. Cantenac Etc

Cinquièmes Crus Ch. Batailley Ch. Grand-Puy-Lacoste etc

Crus Bourgeois (2000) Exceptionels 9 Supérieurs 87 Bourgeois 151

5: Chateau Gloria 2001 St Julien AOC

AOC St Julien in the Medoc Cru bourgeois Cabernet Sauvignon (65%) Merlot (25%), with

5% each of Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot Colour Predominant aroma Palate

Tannin Fruit

Wine Critic (May 2004)Chateau Gloria (St Julien) 2001:

Closed on the nose. Full, sweet, less impact than the 2000. Doesn't have the same texture. Plenty of tannin though. Showing very little on this tasting but has potential. Needs six years. 15+/20 (May 2004)

Wine Society: 30 March 2011

2001: A delicious vintage to enjoy now!

Overshadowed by the much-lauded millennium vintage which preceded it, 2001 proved to be a great year for merlot and the right bank, and, although slightly more challenging on the left bank, it has turned out to be a lovely Claret vintage, and the wines are already delicious.

7. The Society’s Exhibition Sauternes, 2007 AOC A distinctive appellation 40km SE of Bordeaux. Semillon 80%, Sauvignon Blanc 15%, &

Muscadelle. Autumns characterised by misty mornings and

sunny days, encouraging Botrytis mould, or Noble rot, which concentrates juice.

Elegant, sweet, honeyed, full-bodied with a long life-expectancy.

Complex fruity and floral nose and palate. Low yields, labour intensive harvest = expensive

wine! Chateau d’Yquem: £500 a bottle for recent vintages!

Botrytis mould

‘Noble rot’

Summing-up Three groups of French wine makers:

1. In favoured areas unchanged traditional production of quality wines - Champagne, Bordeaux, Burgundy, Rhone & Loire. Mixture of excellent, good and complacent. Expensive products. All AOC.

2. Outside favoured (AOC) areas: Traditional (peasant) production – little or no

innovation. Moderate-poor quality. A dying race. Vin de Table or distillery. Grants for grubbing-up vines.

But also enterprising producers elsewhere; experimenting unconventional varieties, modern vinification, imported technology and know-how; flying winemakers. Best Vin de Pays wines.

Today’s wines

1. Champagne Jacquart, Tradition, NV Brut£18.00 *

2. Pouilly-Fume, Les Cascadelles, 2009 AOC £10.99 *3. The Society’s Exhibition Morgon, 2005 AOC

£8.00 WS 4. Domaine de Valmoissine, Pinot Noir, Louis Latour, Vin de Pays des Coteaux du Verdon 2009 £8.99

* 5. Domaine Lucien Barrot et Fils, Chateauneuf-du-Pape ,

AOC 2007 £22.00 *

6. Chateau Gloria, St Julien, 2001, AOC £10.00 L

7. The Society’s Exhibition Sauternes, 2007 AOC £20.00 WS

* Majestic WS Wine Society L Laytons

Aroma test Which of today’s wines is this?

Think of characteristic aromas!

Best value Which of today’s range offers best

value?

Next session

Wednesday 13 April 2011at 2.30pm

Wines of Iberia, Italy, etc